Salon effects: Real nail polish strips

I know I know I am sooooo far behind on this trend, but I am still going to blog about it because I am sure I am not the only one who has barely decided to try on these polish strips!

Here is what you will need:

*Nail Polish remover

*A cotton ball (or two)

*Salon effects polish strips (design of your choice)

What's included  with the polish strips:

*Polish strips

*Wooden stick

*Nail file

*Instructions

Prep:

Before you even start to apply the polish strips you need to prep your nails so your polish will last longer.

You need to start the process with clean, dry nails.

Then with the wooden stick you are going to push back your cuticles.

Gently smooth the surface with of nails with white side of file.

Shape free edge of nail with hot pink side of the file.

Give nails one last swipe of nail remover to remove any excess dirt & oil.

[This step is extremely important as it helps the manicure last longer.]

Now that we are done prepping our nails we can apply the polish strips!

Step 1:

The Salon effects package comes with 16 different sized nail polish strips, so select the ones that best fit your nails!

Step 2:

After you have selected the nail strips for each of our nails you will now remove the clear protective plastic cover. You will then peel the polish strip from the backing paper.

Step 3:

Pick the side of the strip that best fits your nail, then break the silver tab from the strip.

Step 4:

NOW we get to the fun part!

Place the strip against your cuticle line. Hold the strip at the center for better control.

Gently stretch the strip for a perfect fit.

Run the flat side of wooden stick along the edge of strip

Step 5:

After you have smoothed the excess over nail edge you will now file away excess from the nail edge with the light pink side of the file.

Step 6:

Repeat steps 2-5 for each nail, the instructions suggest to apply thumbs last but honestly I started with that one since it was my first time using it and the thumb is the easiest to apply. But do whatever works for you!.

You are done!

This is my end result! The first one you apply will always be the 'ugly duckling" of the bunch since it's the first one you do, but after each nail you start to get the hang of it!

What do you guys think? Have you used  nail polish strips? Are they a hit or miss for you?

In my opinion I think they are a hit, for less than $10 you get a unique design that you can do at home! The company offers a lot of cute designs to chose from! AND I think they would be great stocking stuffers!

Ps. don't forget to enter my "Capturing December" challenge join me and you could win TWO months of ad space! Details here